Days Gone By

The smell of hyacinth always reminds me of the Metro in Moscow, Russia. Are you asking yourself if you read that right =D Yes, I said the smell of hyacinth reminds me of Moscow’s Metro. Here’s why:

I spent a semester abroad teaching children English. It was an extended semester stretching from January to June. As you can imagine, we arrived in the bitter cold of winter. I was prepared for the winter. What I wasn’t prepared for was the delight and warmth of spring and summer.

When I wasn’t teaching the children, I was off visiting classmates, sight-seeing or in class. The family I lived with, lived beyond the last Metro station on the red line – Yugo-Zapadnaya. This meant at least 45 minutes on the Metro (not including the 20 minute bus ride that brought me to the Metro). It was during one of my many commutes that I passed a woman selling flowers… that in and of itself, was not unusual. There was always someone buying flowers to bring to someone… there was always something to buy. What caught my attention was that it was not a bouquet, but a single stem wrapped in cellophane. I recognized it instantly – a hyacinth, one of my favorites. How could I resist? What I hadn’t counted on was the intoxication of its scent as I carried it with me. I would be riding the escalator down to the station and get lost in its scent. I almost missed a connection because I was so transported. Imagine the contrast of smells… an old and well used Metro system packed full with people and a hyacinth… I would spend the next hour enveloped in its scent… forgetting all about the squeezing and shoving that was going on around me… forgetting I was in Moscow…

The smell still transports me… to the Moscow Metro =D

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Heart Goes Out to Japan

alone

In the quiet moments of my day,when I am not busy with life, my thoughts turn to those in Japan. How alone they must feel surrounded by loss and the unknown… where are their loved ones and where is home.

offerings

How many prayers, offerings and pleas are being expressed on a daily basis… and in how many forms? I have not lost a loved one in this disaster. I am not anxiously awaiting for news of missing friend. And yet my heart aches when I see images of those who are. They are strangers to me… but still I offer up a plea that they might be comforted and find peace.

united

I have been folding origami cranes… as many others have. There is a Japanese tradition that a gift of a thousand origami cranes will bring blessings of hope, long life and recovery. So I fold, hoping that someone, somewhere, will benefit… that loved ones will be united.

Yashiro Japanese Garden – Olympia, WA

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Waiting for Spring

patiently waiting

This little gnome has been patiently waiting to go back out into the garden… I brought him in weeks ago for a bath. He was filthy… the hens had been flicking mud on him. Not on purpose, mind you… they were just searching for worms and he happened to be in a prime location. I have been waiting to find a new location for him… waiting for flowers to come up, to find him the perfect spot. So here he sits… looking out the window into the garden he used to live in… twiddling his thumbs until I finally decide where he should live now. He shouldn’t have too much longer… the garden is starting to come alive!

This little cloaked beauty recently came to my garden. I love her green hood… she is the envy of all those around her.  I love how it swirls around her, giving just a hint of her beauty. She is so mysterious… but with each passing day, she reveals more of herself… she is beginning to open up. Soon she will leave the cloak behind… I can just feel it =D

These ladies are beginning to put on a show as well. They are the ‘Apple Blossom’ Clematis… they are one of the first flowers in my garden. The buds have been out for weeks. Yesterday I noticed that a few buds finally opened. Luckily they are high off the ground, growing up a trellis… where my hens can’t get to them… they love to sample flower buds! These ladies are free to put on a show… perhaps my gnome would like to watch… I’ll have to see what I can do.

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Little Finds at Home

sunshine, blue skies and belonging

What does HOME mean to you? Is it what you live in and where? Is it something physical or a feeling? How do you know when you are home? I have been thinking about this since Monday when I started Unravelling #2 – an e-course that encourages you to explore how you see your world through photography and writing… imagine me being drawn to such a thing =D

I have noticed that there are little things outside my house that make it feel like home for me… there is always a patch of blue sky – thanks to the mailbox the Hannays made for us when we moved into our house. There is always sunshine… even if I have to go to the backyard to see an artist’s interpretation of it. And there are little men scattered around the garden with pointy hats. It does not matter if they are meditating, working or listening, they are always there to greet me and make me smile…

heart, hands and the world

Inside there are reminders that there are many places my heart and hands consider home. My house is filled with the memories of my heart… those places where I had a connection with the people and the land… where I felt I belonged. Places I long to return to, so that I can feel that feeling of home again.

Home is where my heart is…  where I have dared to be vulnerable and was rewarded with love and acceptance. It is that safe place when things seem uncertain. It is a place of celebration and delight. It is where I want to be… surrounded by the people and things that I love!

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Through My Mother’s Eyes

details inside and out

These are pictures my mother took while she was in Graz, Austria… where I lived until I was seven years old. We moved back to the states over 30 years ago, and yet I still considered Graz my Zuhause… my home. Mom shares this feeling… this longing… this homesickness.

cobblestones and birds

She knows my love of details and my love of Graz… as a birthday present to me, she combined the two. She happened to be in Graz in February. While there, she wandered through Graz taking pictures of things she thought I’d remember or love… she did an AMAZING job. I won’t share all of them here… just a few of her themes!

Semmels. Sueßigkeiten. Blumen. Stoff. Straßenbahn…

When we lived there we were always out shopping for the daily necessities. On and off Straßenbahns, feeding… or I should say chasing pigeons, passing gumball machines, looking for perfect fabrics, walking through parks and checking out flowers… it was always an adventure.

out and about

The things I miss most… because there’s nothing close here in Washington state… village towns with churches and their amazing steeples… Straßenbahns and fortresses… clock-towers and passageways… and HUNDREDS of years of history. This may sound strange, but I can smell Graz when I see theses pictures… it’s as if I am standing in my friend’s shoes… looking out over Graz. Perhaps it is wishful thinking =D

Thanks for all the memories Mom!!

Graz, Austria – as Mom sees it!

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Spring in PNW

pink glow

One of my favorite times of year… when the flowering cherry trees begin to glow… that hint of pink as the buds begin to open. Every day the trees expand with pink petals. Even the rain can’t hold them back. Soon the petals will be raining down and cover the ground in a soft blanket of pink.

stripes and raindrops

And then there are the croci pushing up through the soil… seeking sun and rain. Right now they are mostly finding rain… I’m sure they are hoping for sunshine as much as I am =D They tolerate so much… snow, wind, rain… when they are anchored in the soil. Just don’t pick them and bring them inside… there they just whither.

rainy-day sunshine-substitute

On those days… weeks, when the sun doesn’t show its face, here in the Pacific Northwest, these little flowers are a nice substitute. Just as the warmth of the sun on my face makes me smile, so does the sight of yellow daffodils lined up along a fence or dotting a field.

Downtown Olympia, WA

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Under Grow Lights

seeds

Do you recognize these seeds? I picked them up at a seed exchange two summers ago. I figured they were free, so why not give them a try? And I always wanted some Calendula in my garden. Less than a week ago, I tucked some of these seeds into some seedling mix, warmed the soil, put on a cover and placed them under a grow light. And today I saw this:

seedlings

There are three other types of seeds in the seedling tray. These were the first to send up their little cotyledons (leaves). I was so excited… I thought they might not even come up… and here they are, the first ones up! We’ll see what the next few days and weeks bring =D

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Life as I See It in the World of Babies

little me

There must have been something in the water last summer that I missed out on… a couple friends and two sister-in-laws have brought or will be bringing new little ones into the world. Last night, my baby brother and his wife welcomed their first little one into their family. That’s her on the right. I am SO excited for them… and yet profoundly sad at the same time. You see, I have been hoping to bring a little one into the world since before I was married, over thirteen years ago. For years we even had a nursery all set up… operating on the build-it-and-they-will-come philosophy. When a young friend found herself pregnant, I gave her the crib… I had come to terms with the fact that we were not going to have a child…

a little dress of mine

I find that there are other things I just can’t part with. Like this little red and white dress of mine. I pull it out every once in a while thinking I should let one of my sisters use it for their daughters. It always gets neatly folded and put back into the box… It’s as if I will be giving up all hope that I will ever be pregnant, if I let these little outfits out of my possession. Especially this little pink outfit with the “ruffle bum” bottoms… the one I am wearing in the picture with Mom.

ruffle bum

These little things bring me joy and pain… that strange mix of emotion that sometimes happens in life. They are a reminder that I am the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter… that I once represented the fulfillment of a wish… that I was a blessing… that I was the hope for the future. Those moments fill me with joy… and then I am reminded that my wish for a child has gone unfilled… that this great blessing is being withheld from me… that there will not be an oldest daughter in the future – that it ends with me… the intensity of the pain comes in waves. There are moments where I think I can’t go on… wishing the pain would just stop… The pain eventually dulls to an ache, a never-ending ache… that makes the joy of holding a newborn that much sweeter! Oh the bitter-sweetness of life!!

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How My Garden Grows

Bigger Picture… of how my garden grows

peas a soakin’

Giving the peas a little soak overnight… hoping to give them a little head start. I also inoculated them. Want to give them every chance to grow tall and lush and covered with pea pods (These are snap peas ‘Cascadia’ – they do great here)… but mostly so I can snip off the tips and use them in stir-fry and salads. I hear they are quite tasty. I hope I haven’t waited too long. I usually have them in the ground over President’s Weekend… but we had that crazy snow this year. I planted them today.

warm soil

Can you see the soil through the condensation? I set up a whole little seed starting system in the basement. I am determined to have more food production in my garden this year. Honestly, it won’t be hard to top last year… last year just sorta happened. There was no planning… and therefore, not much success. So this year I am planning. I have a calendar filled with when I need to start various seeds. And a list of seeds I mysteriously do not have… like carrots and kale…

moisture and light

I am hoping that if I provide them light, moisture and warm feet, that they in turn will provide us with tasty veggies and herbs. I need to plant broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage, eggplant and peppers, as well as, several herbs this weekend. Plus I need to finish my cold frame and get some greens, beets and carrots going… now I am remembering why I didn’t do much in the garden last year =D All kidding aside, I really want to get this figured out. I want to produce half of our food this year. Do you think I can do it?… Maybe I will create another page and track what we produce/consume – with pictures, of course… just to keep me on track.

How does your garden grow?

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Little Finds in the Garden for the Kitchen

baby rhubarb

Rhubarb can be such a tease. It is one of the first buds to show itself in my collection of perennial food-producing plants, but it will be several weeks before I can use it in the kitchen. You see, the leaves are poisonous. It is the lovely ruby-red stalk that you want. These lovely tight and wrinkly leaves will expand and expand and the stalk will grow to 18″+… my mouth is watering just thinking of the sauces and cobbler that are in the future =D

baby garlic

Unlike the rhubarb, baby garlic is edible. And if I do say so myself, delicious! I must clarify, that this garlic was grown from the bulbils of my garlic I let go to seed last year… you know, those lovely purple blossoms at the end of the tall stalks of the hard-neck garlic. I let them fall where they may and grow. It is this little cluster of plants that I pull from and use as I do scallions. They are so worth the self-discipline it required not to cut those stalks when they were in the garlic scape phase to make garlic scape pesto…. mmmmm! … but I am getting ahead of myself… those are months away and I am sure part of a future post =D

How does your garden grow? Are there edibles you are already enjoying? Are there edibles you will be planting this year for harvest early next spring?

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